Bookmakers Wanted -- Racing Victoria Limited is seeking applications for six Victorian sports bookmaking licenses that will be issued at the start of the 2005/06 racing season. Applicants must be registered as a bookmaker or as an approved bookmaking company or partnership under the Victorian Racing Act of 1958 and must demonstrate that they have management capability, commercial capability, marketing capability, and technological capability-- which includes the capability to offer Internet betting services.
Growth Rate -- Speaking at a Global Betting & Gaming Consultants conference this week, Clive Hawkswood- the general secretary of the Association of Remote Gambling Operators (ARGO) who was previously a senior DCMS official who advised on remote gambling policy during the developmental stages of the UK Gambling Bill-- stated that interactive gambling is growing at a rate of about 20 percent per year. As a result of the growth, interactive gambling should account for about 25 percent of the Levy Board's annual yield when the Board publishes its financial figures next month. Hawkswood stated that the ratification of the Gambling Act is only the first step in accomplishing the goal of establishing the UK as the world center for remote gambling. Two more hurdles-taxation and regulation-still remain.
New EL President -- The European Lotteries Association (EL) has appointed Dr. Winfried Wortmann, general director of the Westdeutsche Lottery of Münster, Germany, as the organization's new president. Wortmann succeeds Hans-Jürgen Reißigerof Deutsche Klassenlotterie, Berlin, who had served for as president for four years but chose not to run for re-election. Wortmann's first address to the EL stressed how important it is that European states maintain their gambling monopolies.
Traffic Stats -- Online research company ComScore Europe has compiled a report showing that one in three British Internet users visited a gambling website in April 2005. The report also shows that the number of unique users visiting gambling websites rose by close to a third in the nine months leading up to April; overall, about 9.6 million people used gambling websites in April, while in July 2004 the figure was just 7.2 million. One in three French Internet users also visited a gambling site in April.
Sold -- BACTA (Britain's Amusement Catering Trade Association), a trade association for the pay-to-play amusement industry, has sold a controlling investment in ATE (Amusement Trades Exhibition)--its exhibition, conference, publishing and services subsidiary--to Clarion Events, a UK-based producer of trade shows and exhibitions. BACTA says the sale will allow it to better focus on the needs and security of its members during a time of uncertainty following the passage of the UK's Gambling Bill.
Rebranded -- GamSure, which provides bond guarantees to interactive gambling companies, has rebranded itself as GamBond in order to better reflect the company's business objectives. The company has also appointed Jack Wigglesworth to its board as an independent non-executive chairman.
Quickies -- Mintel, a global supplier of consumer, media and market research, estimates that mobile gaming will generate $3 billion in revenue in 2009…. PokerStars.com, the second largest online poker network, which was responsible for hosting the satellite tournaments that qualified the winners of both the 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker, is expected to officially announce this month that it is relocating from Costa Rica to the Isle of Man.